Little Joe - Biography
By J Poet
Little Joe was born Jose Maria de Leon Hernandez in Temple, Texas a town with a large Hispanic population in 1940. Since 1956, when he joined his cousin’s band, the Latinairres, Hernandez has been a driving force on the Tejano scene, making music that draws on Mexican folk, Norteño polka, blues, country, western swing and rock’n’ roll. Hernandez dubbed his music La Onda Chicana, The Chicano Wave. He was the first Tejano artist to win a Grammy when 16 de Septiembre (1991 Sony Discos) won the award for Best Mexican American Album in 1991 and took home two Best Tejano Album Grammys for Chicanismo (2005 TDI) and Before the Next Teardrop Falls (2007 TDI). Although he’s a superstar on the Tejano circuit, he remains largely unknown outside that world.
Joe, the seventh of 13 children, grew up in a strong family unit, but in the 50s, Texas held few opportunities for Mexican Americans. His family worked in the cotton fields and he spent the early years of his life with his mom, brothers and sisters picking cotton. Joe’s father worked odd jobs, including smuggling jars of liquor into dry counties like Lubbock. He also had a marijuana dealership that landed him in prison. Joe was 15 when his dad went to jail; he became the man of the house. Joe worked hard and eventually asked his mother for the money to buy a guitar. She gave him 15 dollars for his first instrument.
In 1956, Joe and his brothers joined his cousin David Coronado in a band called David Coronado and The Latinaires. Joe was only 13 but already playing lead guitar. The band cut a successful regional single in 1958 with the instrumental “Safari – Part 1 and II,” for Terrero Records. Joe’s importance as a singer, guitarist and writer grew and when Coronado left the group they became Little Joe and the Latinaires. The band called their sound La Onda Chicana, The Chicano Wave, a genre breaking blend of traditional Norteño ballads and polkas, big band swing a la Bob Wills, rock'n'roll, blues and hard country and western honky tonk music, seasoned with lyrics that give listeners realistic insights into day to day Chicano life. The band had their first big hit single, “El Corrido del West” in 1960, and recorded for indie Chicano labels like Corona, Valmon, and El Zarape. Their albums included Por Un Amor (1964 El Zarape) and Amor Bonito (1967 El Zarape) Joe’s brother Jesse Hernandez, The Latinairs bass player, was killed in an automobile accident in 1964, and Joe made a graveside vow to make their music famous. In 1968 the band created two indie labels Buena Suerte (Good Luck) and Leona. Albums from this period include Follow The Leader (1970 Buena Suerte), Adios Mariquita Linda (1970 Buena Suerte) and Chicanos Can To (1970 Buena Suerte). 20 Grande Exitos (2000 Freddie) collects some of the bands early hits.
In 1970 the band toured the west coast and hung out in San Francisco and the East Bay, where the Latino Pride movement was building steam. He decided to add more Latin and Mexican influences to his music and changed the name of the band to Little Joe y La Familia. They continued recording for their own logo with La Familia (1971 Buena Suerte), Nosotros La Familia de Little Joe (1974 Buena Suerte), Brown Stuff (1975 Buena Suerte). In the late 70s the band was back on regional Mexican labels for Mañana (1975 Freddie), Preta Linda (1981 Freddie), La Voz De Aztlan (1977 Leon), De Colores (1980 Leon) and Renunciacion (1984 Leon).
In 1983 he was signed by WEA, Warner’s international logo, but he only stayed with the label for two years before starting another indie label Redneck Records. His first album for that logo 25th Silver Anniversary (1984 Redneck/Freddy) got picked up by Sony Discos. 25th Silver Anniversary - Live in Concert (1985 Sony Discos), recorded before a sold out crowd of long time fans is one of he few essential live albums by any artist. La Familia’s next album Timeless (1986 Sony Discos) combined English language tunes like “Redneck Meskin’ Boy” and “To Kill A Memory,” a cryin’ in yer beer honky tonk classic and sentimental Mexican ballads like “Siempre Mi Heroe,” a tune Joe wrote o honor of his father. It stayed on Billboard’s Latin Chart for more than a year, had won several Grammy nominations.
Since the late 80s, Joe has been trying to penetrate the Anglo market. Tu Amigo (1990 Sony Discos) is an English language album with a couple of duets with Texas pal Willie Nelson. “You Belong To My Heart,” an English version of the Mexican oldie “Solamente Una Vez” even cracked the country charts. In 1991 he became the first Tejano artist to win a Grammy, when 16 de Septiembre (1991 Sony Discos) won the award for Best Mexican American Album. In 1992 he launched his forth indie lable with Que Paso (Tejano, 1992) which got him another Grammy nomination for Best Mexican American Album. Recent albums include Chicanisimo (2005 TDI), Little Joe with the Accordion Maestros (2007 TDI) and Before The Next Teardrop Falls (2007 TDI) which won another Best Mexican American Album Grammy.
